Chronicles of the Resistance
by Cearbhail
Summary: The Resistance will rise to take on the corrupt government that currently hold both Illuska and Damara, two super powers that are doing what they can to silence magick and the other religions. A small ragtag team will raise an army and take on both powers, and hopefully kill the High King of Illuska.
1. My Magickal Rod

**Cearbhail** :

 _Ok, everyone. So... I've been at this for a while now, and if you are familiar with my story telling, this will be no surprise. But there is a surprise with this story. One, I'm not the writer. I'm not. I'm just the transcriber... technically the Dungeon Master. You see, my friends wanted to play Dungeons and Dragons, and they knew I played a total of one game for three months, and so... of course they asked me if I would DM for them. And I shrugged and said, why the fierfek not. So, I bought the books, did some reading, got their characters in order and then created the world around them, almost literally. So... this is the result. And this was the first mission, or quest. You'll learn more about the characters as the chapters go on, and I'll be going beyond what's just going on during the campaign, but behind the scenes as well, just to make the story more rounded. Well, anyway. Let's begin._

 _And before we get started, I just want to say this: If I ironically say something like 'instead of doing the smart thing' it's because I had other options available that they could have used but ignored in lieu of their insanity._

 _Oh... and enjoy. =^^=_

* * *

[Erwin Dristole]

Oh man, my head is killing me. I had so much to drink last night that I could barely remember what even happened, or wherever I ended up, but… I could feel the cold ground under my exposed body, the hard stone wet with cold water. My head is spinning even now as I wake up, my body feeling like it was thrashed from whatever it was I did last night.

Through my closed eyelids, I could see the bright green highlights, and I knew that once I opened my eyes, I would be welcomed to a nauseating blinding light. Ugh… I should just turn myself over, and try my best to wait this out until I'm back to normal. Hangovers are the worst, but they're temporary.

"So, when is the execution?" I heard a voice from nearby ask, which made me snap my eyes open.

A bright, blinding light assaulted me, forcing me to call out in agony as I rolled myself over. There was a giant green splotch in my eyesight, one that was slowly dissipating. The world was spinning around me as my self-induced hangover was slowly attempting to cripple me. Any second from now, and I might end up vomiting.

"Well, it seems the elf is finally awake." The same voice called from nearby. I looked over my shoulder, taking in what was actually going on. I wasn't lying in some alleyway, thrown away like trash, like I have been on several occasions the past three years on my journey. And I wasn't in some maid's house waking up after a rousing bout of endure the dragon.

I was inside a prison cell, completely surrounded by iron bars that have long rusted away, and I could probably bust through if I really had the opportunity to throw myself at the bars for a day or two. A small pile of hay was packed into a small box of wood, obviously to make a bedding of some form. The only support structure to keep the hay together was the crap other people left behind. There was also a bucket waiting for me next to my bedding, obviously for me to crap into. Come on, people; we're in the fifth era. In Farvaan, we don't crap in buckets anymore. We have aqueduct systems that we use in our latrine streams, and a well-designed sewage dump where our trees and mushrooms flourish from the waste, transforming our crap into nutrients and compost that in return, supply our nation with hallucinogenic pleasure drugs.

"Well, good morning, elf." The guard sneered down at me, crossing his arms. "Have to admit, it's not every day we see elves here in this prison. In fact, we don't have many prisoners at all. At the moment it's just you…"

He pointed to the cell to the right of me. "that old man…" The old man in question didn't look too old, but he did look he's seen better days. He wore clothes that were barely sticking to his malnourished body. His long dark black hair was matted, reaching past his shoulders in one of the sickest displays of how bad your hair can get after years of improper hygiene. In Farvaan… that is a crime. Hair is the basis of your status, and the better your hair, the better you were as a personality. His personality was neglectful and unconcerned with his appearance. His beard was just as neglected as the rest of him, though it was more so with the addition of whatever food he was being fed renting space in his beard.

The old man opened his eyes briefly, casting a glance at me with the sullen defeated eyes of a loser. Such a loser.

The guard pointed to the cell on the other side of the room. "And that cat-folk girl."

I looked over to the cat-folk girl, who looked just as old as I did. Knowing how elves age in comparison, I'm guessing she's probably half my age though. She was a sleek black-furred beauty. Her black fur was dotted with small flecks of blue showing through her matte black fur. Her eyes flashed over to me, as if she just woke up. Her eyes were just as bright and blue as the specks in her black fur. The cat-folk girl only yawned as she pushed herself up into a seated position.

The guard nodded as he looked down at me. "Man, it has to suck to be you. You pissed off the wrong person with that stunt you did, and now, our executioner is sharpening his axe. You and that cat are going to lose your heads by sundown. What did you do anyway?" The guard crossed his arms, looking down at me like he actually expected an answer.

My head was still spinning, but it was starting to come back to me. I was tired of sleeping in the woods, especially with the rumors of werewolves nesting nearby, so I came to the nearest town, even if that town was in the country of Illuska, one of the most corrupt counties I've ever set my foot into. The town was called Stormwind, a rather large town from what I gathered last night. It was on this hill or something, and there were walled off sections of the town. In the lowest part of the town were all these poor people who were rotting away in the filth of the higher parts of town. No one who lived there had any fresh food, the food was all the trash that rolled down the trash streams; no housing that seemed warm or comfortable to live in; and the only clothes people seemed to wear were the same rags I found myself wearing right now in this jail cell.

So, I made my way up to the highest part of the town. And as I got higher and higher, passing through the walled town, I saw the drastic change of the lifestyles of those who lived in the higher levels. The second level had actual houses, small huts with basic amenities but it was still services. Most of the people here seemed to be growing small farms, a self-sustaining lifestyle. There were even small markets that sold basic goods. It wasn't so bad, but it made what I saw earlier that more unacceptable. And as I got to the third level, I couldn't even imagine seeing what I was seeing. To call it posh living would be a joke. I walked into a store where someone was buying jelly beans, laughing about how they were going to a vomit party. When I asked about it, the noble hid behind her folding fan, calling me a filthy elf, and then walked around me, afraid of catching my disease.

I found out later that a vomit party was where nobles stood around a massive buffet table and they gorge themselves on everything, and when they get full, they eat these jelly beans that force them to extract the contents from their stomachs so that they can make room to shovel more in their face holes. Such a colorful place I seemed to have found myself in.

As if that wasn't enough, I ended up walking past a few guards as they hassled what looked like a Shouen girl. They stopped her in the middle of the street, grabbed her, and threw her up against a wall. I watched as they started running their hands across her robes, asking her if she had any contraband. They found a wand on her, and the guards beat her to the ground. After they kicked the shit out of her, they spat on her face before walking away. I know there is some needed context for what had happened, and from what I know… Illuska and Shou are at war. Anyone who has any linage of Shou in them are treated like trash. Same for anyone from Farvaan too. Elves are treated like trash in Illuska, and in Southern Shou too. Northern Shou seems pretty cool, and Eastern Shou is… well… it's there.

So, after witnessing what I called an ordinary day, I wanted to end it the same way I end every day in Illuska: I went to the nearest pub to drown my anger in. And the pub I found myself in was in all respects, a normal pub. It was in the highest section of town, save for the massive mansion looming over the top of the hill, the same part of town that had vomit parties. It was a large rustic tavern with the old Calimshan vibe to it, before it fell to what is now Illuska. I plopped myself at the bar, ordered as many beers as my gut could fill, and I let myself fall into my new despair.

I spent an hour or so just drinking my beer, and I found myself studying the room around me. On the other side of the tavern was a black-furred cat-folk, which I haven't seen any like her since I've started my journey three years ago. Almost all cat-folk were tiger or jaguar breeds, but this was another thing entirely. It was like a black leopard with blue specks in her fur. And her eyes were glued on the book in her hands, her other hand absent-mindedly holding an apple with a chunk missing from it.

As the night wore on, I got more and more drunk. The bar was becoming livelier, and to my stomach, this fish and chips was becoming actually tasty. It seemed that late in the evening, this pub started gambling, tables opening up for various card games and dice games that were nothing but luck. The cat-folk girl was cleaning house on a card game, and I could tell that some of the Illuskans were getting upset at her constant victories. If I had been sobered, I might have even noticed the concealed knives being drawn from under the table.

She was the only person getting attention tonight. To my right was a loud noble, one who was laughing while he told this story of his. "And so, this man walks up to me, sticking his smelly sausage fingers at me. 'Please sir, one coin is all I ask', the filthy peasant said to me. And so, I made him lick my boots, and while he was down there, licking, I took out my sword and thrust it straight into his back, just enough to let him survive for a few minutes while he crawled away. It turns out that he had children he was trying to feed, or something like that. So, that dying man stained my favorite Argonian-skinned boots, and because of his audacity to bleed on me, I took his children and put them in my fields. They spent years working off their father's debt to me, and that's just the younger boy; his sister died long before the debt was paid off. Once the boy had the debt paid off, I lined him up in front of my best bowmen and they all took practice shots at him. Doesn't matter though, he was a stupid elf boy anyway. No one would even notice or care that he was gone."

That's when I slammed my beer on the counter, turning myself around and threw my first punch at the noble. I managed to knock him off his chair, and I fell down over top of him. The noble had some guards drinking with him and they jumped on top of me. I started fighting them off me, and that's when I saw that cat-folk girl from earlier run across the table tops, unsheathing her claws as she jumped on top of the guard reaching for a chair to bash me with. She knocked him flat to the ground, scratching his face off while the other guard tried to pull me off the noble. I was in a drunken rage and grabbed the nearest bottle, swinging it back to strike the guard, and that is what ended the fight. The guard dodged the hit and got an arm around my neck. It pulled it back, and took a deep breath. I couldn't breathe. And then… well…

I guess I ended up here.

The person standing in front of my cell wasn't any of the guards though. I must be inside the lowest part of the town, in some prison or something.

"Well? How did you end up here?" The guard asked.

I shrugged. "Bar fight."

The guard only shook his head. "That sucks." He shrugged as he started walking away. "Anyway, your execution is scheduled at sundown, which is six hours away. Take this time to reflect on the One True God and how you should have behaved like a proper citizen of our great nation by silently allowing the rich to do whatever they want while smiling and bearing it while taking all their shit." That guard gets it.

He nodded goodbye and headed out the door. There was something off about the guard though. He was in a bit of a rush to leave the room, and he gave the old man a curious glance before closing the prison door behind him.

I looked around the prison. There were still three guards in the room. One was sitting at a table, taking notes on something; another guard was walking around the cells, looking at us, and a third was standing by the door leading to the exit. I surely didn't want to sit here and wait for my execution; I had to get out of here, no matter what.

I tried to look for ways to get out of here, and while I could do just about anything to get out of here, like talk to the old man resting in the cell next to me, or trying to locate a structural weakness with the cell door: like the fact that the cell door was fixed with half-pinned barrel hinges, and that the right amount of leverage would basically break the door open. Or perhaps check the old wall behind me for some kind of crack that I could exploit with my many magickal talents. But instead of those options, I instead focused on the guard patrolling; he had a set of keys hanging on his belt. I just needed him to get away from those keys and then somehow get those keys into my hands.

So, I used one of my spells: Produce Flame. Right on the guard's pants. The guard's pants went up in a spark of fire, and the guard was immediate in his action. He scrambled to rip his pants off, and almost like he was a trained stripper in a past life, he ripped those pants off him with little effort. He quickly threw his flaming pants into a bucket of water on the other side of the prison, which effectively put the keys too far away from me to do anything with. Oh great. Now what? It's not like I had those other two options to rely on. I guess I only had one option left.

I reached down and grabbed my pants, which weren't really my pants. They were whatever potato sack these guards wrapped me in. And I pulled my pants down, and let my elven rod of magick breathe. A ray of light fell upon me and my majestic rod as the gods themselves blessed the very room for the display I was offering the guards around me. One of the guards grabbed his eyes, screaming that the sight was too much, and he sprinted for the door. Another guard was too stunned to do anything. She wanted me.

The cat-folk girl was staring at me wide-eyed, but her attention was quickly diverted to the bucket of water just outside of her cell. Her tail was struggling to slip into the bucket. Ah… she was trying to grab the keys. I had to distract the guards long enough to let her do her thing.

I nodded to the guards. "Yeah. That's right. You heard right." You see, there's a rumor that elves are hung like horses. I'm living proof that we are.

The guard that was now pant less was starting to show his appreciation for my elven rod and started heading for my door. I guess my door wasn't locked, another thing I should have checked, and he started opening up my door, rushing his way in. On the other side of the room, the cat-folk girl's tail accidentally smacked against the bucket, knocking it over. The noise drew the other guard's attention.

"No! Bad kitty!" She screamed as she rushed for the keychain, which was now wrapped up in the cat-girl's tail. She started fusing with the cat-girl, which left me with just one guard to contend with.

Once the guard had my door open, I waited for him to walk into my cell. He obviously wanted to rape me, but unluckily for him, I know how to do magick. But I won't. He doesn't deserve the pleasure.

I rushed him, grabbing him by the scruff of his hair and slamming his face on the iron bars. I did this a few times before I slammed my knee in his face and threw him in the poop/hay bedding. And just like that, I had an open cell door. Not too complicated of an escape if I do say so myself.

The guard fighting with the cat girl's tail was now in possession of the keys and was on her way over to me. I reached down and grabbed the knocked-out guard's short sword, and no, I mean his primary weapon, and no, I mean his actual sword. No, not his dick! I grabbed his sword and rushed out of my cell just in time to duck a slash by the guard woman. I rammed my sword into her side, and she fell back against the cell, grabbing her side. Her hand was red with blood, but she didn't look done.

She screamed, "Prisoner is loose!" And I could hear movement outside the prison, like people were running towards us. This is not good. I had to do something.

I ran my fist across her face, hitting her hard enough that her face bounced off the iron bars. She fell to the ground, unconscious. I could hear the noise just outside the door; I had to hurry. Options, I had options. What to do though? I could slam the door, use a spell to set the door on fire or something. Or… I could grab the keys in the girl's hand and free a prisoner. How about the conscious cat girl that looks ready to fight? We could escape before the guards even know what's going on by going through the trap door leading into the sewer, which I would know about if it took two seconds to evaluate the room.

I looked to the scraggly old man who barely looked conscious. I'd free him. Genius!

I reached down, snatching the keys from the girl's hands, and then I rushed like underworld to the old man's cell door. I was quick as I slammed the keys into the man's cell door, unlocking it with no effort at all. I pulled the door open, nodding to the scraggly old man. "You're free now."

He glanced up at me, wearily. He slowly nodded his head, looking over my shoulder as the door leading out of the prison burst open. "You might want to use that sword of yours."

I turned my head around, seeing the crowd of guards forcing their way through the door. There were at least three of them, and now… I'm all on my own. I need some additional help.

"Hold them off." I said to the old man as I rushed for the cat girl's door. I don't know what I was thinking; I don't know anything about this old man or what he's even capable of. There are three guards at least rushing the door. There's no way he's going to be able to handle them on his own.

…

[Ignor Mei Kulenov]

This has been a long time coming. I thought I was going to die in that cell, just some pawn of an ambitious ex-Paladin seeking to destroy Illuska, but now, I'm a free man. And I'm going to do what I do best… kill some Paladins.

As soon as the elf boy unlocked my door and asked me to cover him while he rushed to free the only other prisoner in this cell block, I pushed myself off my butt. It's been too long since I properly stretched out these legs. Or held a sword. I wonder if I still have it in me to do this. Well, if I don't, I go out like a proper Damaran Paladin, in battle against evil.

I roared a challenge as I charged through my cell door, tackling the first guard to come to me. He was too in shock to register that I charged him, and I took that time to run my hand into the man's throat, hitting him hard enough that he fell backwards into the two other guards behind him. I reached for his sword, snatching it from his hands. I felt complete again. Time to show these Illuskan wannabes what a true Paladin is. I was a blur as I slashed the guard falling into his friends, the blood from his throat spraying into the air. The other guards shielded their eyes for a brief second to protect themselves from getting splashed by their comrade's blood. I took that second to slash my sword through them.

Three more guards rushed the doorway, and I took that as an invitation. I charged up, taking the initiative, and ran my sword right through the first guard. The guard right behind him took a slash at me, and I responded by pulling the stabbed guard in front of me, taking the blow. He was still alive enough to scream out in pain as he took the hit. I snapped out my leg, kicking the stabbed guard off my sword and onto the sword of the second guard. Once they hit the ground, I turned my attention to the third guard. She slashed her sword at me, and I didn't even bother dodging. I reached out, knocking the blade away with my bare hand. I snapped out my other hand, bludgeoning her with the pummel of my sword. Her nose spat out a red complaint as she hit the wall.

I stood there as I listened for anything going on. I didn't hear anyone coming after us, but I could hear whispers out in the hallway. They were waiting for us to come to them. I wonder what they have planned for us. Knowing the guards, it's something that can be easily repelled. They're just kids pretending to know war. I've lived through war, and I know how to survive the impossible.

I looked back at the elf boy. He was just now unlocking the Rakastan's cell door.

The elf boy opened the door for the girl, holding out his sword. "Here, you're going to need this."

I could tell by looking at the Rakastan, she didn't look too pleased at being handed a sword, and even glanced down at her own claws before shrugging and taking the weapon from him. These were just children, and yet… they were already being forced into this scenario. True… I was about their age when I first used a sword to kill small insignificant gnats like the ones currently bleeding out at my feet. Oh well. I guess this is the beginning of their story then. So then… what does that make me?

I hope I'm not the experienced elder that becomes a mentor. Those usually don't end up with the best endings. As long as I don't run into any important villains before we escape this prison, we should be set. I can go my separate way and let these two do whatever it is they will be doing. It's obvious they have a destiny ahead of them. Of course, they have to be. There's no way this elf could have escaped his cell by flashing his dick without being guided by some kind of destiny.

"Hey, you two." I said as the two young adults walked over to me. They both looked close to nineteen, but with the elf, he could just as easily be 60 years old and still look like this. Heck, he might be older than me.

I nodded to the door leading out to the hallway. "Once we exit this cell block, we'll probably be encountering more guards. Are the two of you proficient in fighting? I don't want to be babysitting you all day."

The elf boy nodded. "I've grown up practicing sword fighting with my dad. As well as Druidry from my mom." I can see by his stance that he wasn't just talking himself up. He had some developed muscles, some tone to his sword arm. He had a few scars around the puldron placements on his shoulders where he took some stray hits. I couldn't say that the kid was fresh, that's for sure. He's seen some action recently.

I looked over to the Rakastan. She didn't look as world-weary as the elf. She looked properly groomed, besides the prison rags she was barely wearing. She looked up at me, her tail flicking as she looked down at the short sword in her hands. "I know the basics; and I grew up in a clan that used these all the time." She looked up at me. "I should be just fine. Swords aren't my specialty though."

"So then… what is your specialty?"

She stuck out her hand. A small glowing orb appeared in her hands. "Magick." She replied as she let the orb of light fade away. "I'm a Mystic Breed." She said with a heavy voice, thick with sadness. I could see her past playing out in her mind, a small hollow memory I know all too well. Something happened to her, and it had to do with her being who she was.

I looked to the two youngsters. "Ok, so… let's go out there and teach these soldiers what a real warrior looks like."

I turned around and walked over to the doorway, the two behind me. I could still hear the movement outside the door, but it was more than that now. It sounded like all-out war outside. There was something big going on. I felt a pit growing inside my stomach, and that's never a good sign. What was going on out there?

…

[Kara Kulenov]

"So, this is the place?" Ivor asked me as he lowered his pair of binoculars.

We hiked through Illuska for three days to get here, climbing over frozen mountains, sneaking across a guarded countryside, avoiding the rumored werewolves in the dark woods. But we're here. All 53 of us.

"Yup. This is the place." I said as I brought my own binoculars up. "According to the note I got… this is the place. Fort Sun Blood. Dad's in there."

I backed away from the hill, slowly making my way back down the hill. My fellow countryfolk waited for me. They wanted this as much as I did. It was time for us to take our home back. But to do it properly… we needed Dad.

"This is it, fellow Damarans. This is the prison your rightful leader, Ignor Mei Kulenov, is being held. Our country has slowly been bleeding us to death, and your rightful tsar is in that prison. If we free him, the other Damarans will rise up and declare the imposter tsar the fake he is! The Ostingrav Underground will become whole, and we will take Ostingrav back from that Illuskan plant: Yugen Kalisnki." Everyone's face soured at hearing the name of our current 'tsar'. He took our country away from us, handing it over to Illuska and their High King. And ever since he took control over our capital, our prominent leaders have been slowly fading from power, one accident or forced execution at a time. My family was one of the first ones hit, and I was lucky to be away with my brother at the time our family was attacked. And Dad… well… I thought he was killed in the war against Northern Shou, but… he's been here the whole time.

I looked to the fort. There were a lot of Illuskan soldiers. That didn't matter. We have Megumin, our little Shou wonder. I looked to the Shouen girl, nodding to her. "So, are you ready to do your thing?"

She looked at the fort. "What if I hit Commander Kulenov?"

She had a good point. She has exactly one useful spell, and it was something I didn't want my father to get caught in. "Good point. Ok, plan 24. Anyone have a bottle of vodka?" If we're going to go rush in and get ourselves killed, I want to go out like a champ. Better yet. "Does anyone have an alchemist fire?" I think I have a plan.

* * *

 **Cearbhail** :

 _So, that's the first chapter, and next chapter will probably go into how the first dungeon was cleared. And at first, it started with me telling Erwin about how when I was playing an elf, my DM told me that all elves were hung like horses. And because of this, Erwin made the joke about pulling out his own magickal rod as a form of escaping. So then, I said roll, he looked at me like I was crazy. And I said, "I'm serious. Roll." And he did, and he rolled a 20. So... there we go. And it was cemented in history that Erwin escaped prison by pulling down his pants. If only everyone in prison could escape that way. Anyway, see you next chapter._


	2. My golden dragon

**Cearbhail** :

It's been a while, but you know... things get in the way of my writing. Writing for other people, planning D&D sessions. Trying to please everyone except myself. Gods, I hate it some days. Anyway, we're finally onto the second chapter. I didn't really go out of my way to express any displeasures with this part of the campaign because honestly, I was still pretty new to DMing so... yeah. I just kind of let them do what they want as long as they were creative about their approaches, and honestly, rolled high enough for it to work. So...

 _Oh... and enjoy. =^^=_

* * *

[Kurohana Raksha'na]

Why did the elf place this short sword in my hands? I'm a Rakastan. I mean… sure, I'm not averse to the idea of slashing throats, but I'd rather use my claws to do it. Not to mention: I'm a Mystic Breed of Rakastan. For me, using magick is second nature, kind of like the elves. Placing this sword in my hands tells me one thing: I guess this is for real. I mean… I just left home not even a week ago. I thought I would go out, explore the world, find out who killed my entire clan… but I never really thought I'd be pushed into this scenario within days of me leaving my foster clan.

I looked up at the elf looking me in the eye. "Are you ready?" He closed his hand over top of mine, making me grip the sword. "You do realize that… we have no choice. It's us… or them."

My heart stopped for a second. This was it… yeah. Just like I thought. No going back now. I guess I just have to go along with this. I can always leave afterwards. If I ever want to find out who attacked my clan, I have to be able to investigate. And I guess that starts here. I should have known that this wouldn't be as simple as going to a nearby village, play some poker, and then get rich and use the money to pay investigators to find out what I needed to know in order to avenge my family. I would have to get my claws dirty. Kayrukna told me this quest of mine would be perilous, and that I would find myself in situations where I would need to fight for my life. I knew the risks, and I trained with the clan in the ways of the Turami Assassin, being trained by some of the clan's hunters in how to survive. I spent years with them, raiding ancient ruins, pyramids, and other things that helped me learn how to survive during this quest of mine. They understood why I needed to do this. They wanted revenge for what happened just as much as I did. And even so… that was training. I never had to stab something that wasn't a scorpion, or a stray coyote. Or shooting down vultures with magick missiles. This were people, living people. Not a simulation or hunting.

My eyes were still glued on the short sword. This was it. No going back. I keep repeating it in my mind, but… I'm not a violent person. I'm a studious one. I wanted answers to what happened to my clan. I wanted answers to who planned it, why those people followed, and ultimately… why my clan? I mean… after the incident, I thought it was just a band of bandits or something, but nothing was looted. Just bodies mutilated and burned. The whole village broken down, and words written in blood on our tents, calling us magick whores. I wanted to find out what the bigger picture was, and if in the process, I end up meeting the individual responsible for all this… great. Maybe I'll kill them. If not just to keep this from happening again, and again. I need to protect whatever remains of my tribe: The Mystic Breed Rakastans.

I looked back up at the elf holding my hand over the blade. He had this… look in his eyes. He knew what he was asking of me. He also knew… we had no choice. I guess that's it then. No choice. I sighed as I took the sword from him, looking over towards the exit. The old man with long brown matted hair looked at me, nodding as he gestured to the door. "We don't have time for this. The longer we wait, the longer the enemy has to prepare for us."

The elf gripped my hands tighter, nodding his head to me. "Do you know how to use this?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

That was all he needed to hear. He started for the door, grabbing a sword from one of the knocked-out guards. "We're ready." I quickly followed behind him out of my cell and over to the door.

The old man looked at the two of us, almost giving us one last chance to change our minds. He finally nodded and shoulder-slammed the door, almost bursting the door off its hinges. A guard was on the other side of the door, and he didn't survive the door exploding open. The old man had his own sword aimed down right at the guard's chest, impaling him as he slammed the guard into a wall, the door and sword smashing him on impact with the wall.

The elf jumped into the hallway, charging his first enemy, his hand glowing as he summoned his magick. He shot a small blast of fire as one of the guards, and he managed to dive out of the way as the spark of fire flew over his head. I decided to actually do something, and I wasn't really all that happy with it. One of the guards was pulling back an arrow in his bow and aiming it right at the elf guy. I stuck out my hand, using one of my first spells I learned: Mage Hand. And… I kind of know how to make it invisible thanks to some rogue training of mine.

I summoned my Mage Hand, bringing it to existence right in time to catch the arrow right as it was being fired. It saved the elf as he stuck out his hand, shooting a blast of lightning at the closest guard. The guard took the hit directly, being thrown off his feet as he dropped to the ground, convulsing from the shocks given to him. I bared my fangs as I took off in a dash, running up the walls and across the ceiling as I ran over top the downed swordsman and made my way over to the archer. He just barely had his bow loaded when I jumped from the ceiling and fell down right on top of him, plunging my sword into his throat. With a quick twist of the sword, I felt and heard his neck snap.

I sat there on top of him for a few seconds… or minutes. I'm not sure how long. I just killed a man. Sure, he was going to kill us, but… I still killed him. Did this make me as bad as the people that razed my village? I mean… it's self-defense but… at the same time, I'm here because of my actions. I decided to jump into the bar fight. I mean, that one guy, whoever he was, was very vocal in his story about killing a whole family, starting with the father, working the daughter to death, and then having the son pay off the rest of the debt, only to having him shot to death by his troops. It was enough that when the elf guy stood up from his chair to punch the annoying guy in the face, I ditched my earnings to go jump onto the soldier pulling out a sword to kill him.

It was my action of jumping in to kill that soldier, or defend that elf guy, that put me in the position I'm in now. I'm killing a man… because I tried to defend some guy I didn't even know. And now… my paws are forever stained. I'm a murderer now. There's no going back. This was the path I have chosen. I was trained in the ways of the rogue trickster, but I favored the methods of the assassin. And now I have my first death. I only hope it's one of the last I have to render, or that I never think of this as my first response to a threat.

I sat there for a few more seconds, just letting my mind catch up to my body. My claws were shaking as I contemplated pulling my sword up. I knew it was going to be just as hard to pull it out as it was for me to put it in. Um… that phrasing. It's… well… SHUT UP.

I sighed as I quickly pulled my sword out of the guy's throat. Blood shot up like a fountain, and didn't expect the sudden shower on my face. My fur… my precious black fur! I hope there's a river I can wash in, because I'm NOT licking this off! I don't know where this guy's been, and I don't want to find out the hard way.

The elf walked over to the convulsing guard and quickly ran his sword through the guard's chest. After the guard died, he walked over to me, nodding his understanding as he turned his attention to the door. He placed his ear to the door; I'm guessing he's trying to hear all the screaming and dying going on the other side of the door. I didn't need to place my ear on any surface when I could hear the vivid screams of people dying.

The old man sighed as he walked over to us. As he stopped by the doorway, he placed a hand on it. "Here's the problem." He looked at the door. "If we open this door… we don't know what we're getting into. We don't know how many men are out there, or how strong they are. I can hear the screams of dying men out there, but we don't know if they're training… or if they're facing an even bigger threat. We might be charging out to our deaths. Are you willing to risk that chance just to leave? We can probably hold this position until we find out what's going on out there. Or… maybe we would just be wasting precious time we could use to escape."

I looked over to the elf. He seemed to be pondering what we were going to do. "I say we take our chances. The three of us have done well so far…"

"So far?" The old man almost laughed, shaking his head. "You managed to knock out two guards, both of which were distracted by your dick. You struggled to land your first hit on that guard right there. You were lucky the Rakastan had your back, or you'd currently have an arrow sticking out of it. And she…" He looked at me. "She's not a warrior. Not in her heart anyway."

He's right. I'm not a warrior, but… I have to become one. I sighed, looking down at the sword in my hands. "We don't have much of a choice. Either we stay here… and die. Or we go out there and take the risk."

The old man looked me in the eye. "I just wanted to make sure. Once we go out there, we're set on our path. We're escaping this prison. And I've been here for years. It's a military fort. We'll be fighting through Illuska's greatest soldiers. Well, maybe not their greatest, but the most of what they have."

That's… I don't know much about Illuska. I'm not entirely sure what their military looks like. Looking down at the guards we just killed, I'm guessing they're not very elite.

The old man walked up to the door, placing his hand on the handle. "Are we ready?"

The elf shrugged, looking at me. "Whenever you are."

I nodded. "Yeah."

The old man looked at the two of us. "Well then. Our adventure begins."

He pushed the door open and he rushed out, leading the way as I followed out with the elf right behind me. The outside was utter chaos. There were possibly hundreds of people fighting each other. There seemed to be two groups, but I only suggest this because of coordinated armors and colored clothes. The guards we had in the prison… I didn't see any others like them out in the battlefield, but I did see the bright blue colors that their shirts were comprised of. Not to mention the same Coat of Arms on their armor plates as were branded on the guard leathers. The other army had mostly dark leather with reds and yellows. A yellow circle with what looked like a hammer brazened in red decorated their helmets, which had horns sticking out of them.

The old man looked out at the battlefield. "This… this can't be." He looked at me. "Do not engage the red army. They're… allies."

I looked to the elf. Did he know what was going on out here? "Damarans?" He squeaked out as he looked across the battlefield. "Here?"

…

[Kara Kulenov]

There were so many of them. Why? I should have done more research before committing to this attack on Fort Sun Blood.

Three Illuskan soldiers were charging right at me. Oh well, I can't focus on what I did wrong; I can only focus on how I can make it right. "Brother. I need a lift."

My brother, Ivor, decked in the iron plating of a Damaran Templar, wielding a greatsword, glanced back at me. "Right." He lowered down to a knee, placing his greatsword on his back. "So, you got a plan?"

"Fly over the soldiers running right at us, land on one's face, stab him in the eye, kick the other two while jumping down. While they're distracted, you will kill them with your sword." I jumped onto the flat of my brother's greatsword. "Ready when you are."

"You're lucky we've practiced this. Up you go!" He screamed as he pushed himself up, swinging his blade over his shoulders, throwing me into the air. I soared over the battlefield, spotting more and more Illuskan Templars as I got closer to the fort's center. As I soared up in the air, I caught the site of something strange: a cat-folk. As I looked over to her, I could see a raggedy old man wearing prison rags, and an elf dressed similarly. I felt my heart come to a stop. The old man… he looked really familiar. And… I'm here to free my dad. This is a prison fort so… if that old man is my dad…

If that's dad, then I found him.

I found a smile forming on my lips as gravity started pulling me back down. I glanced down at the surprised soldiers raising their blades to welcome me. I was already too happy to care. Besides, I'm just a distraction. Right as I started falling down on top of them, I saw the flash of a greatsword, fast and powerful enough to slash through the exposed necks of the soldiers lining up to meet me. Sure, it didn't kill them all in one stroke, but it did draw their swords back down to defend themselves. And now… death from above.

I snapped my feet out, kicking at two soldiers as I landed on top of them. I directed my dagger with both of my hands onto the soldier in the middle, thrusting my knife straight through his helm into his brain. I managed to knock all three to the ground. Ivor was right behind me, slashing his greatsword through the downed soldiers. Right behind us were some of the stronger members of our army.

I pushed myself up, grabbing Ivor by his arm. "Ivor! I think I saw dad! He's right over there!" I pointed to where I remember seeing him.

Ivor's smile started to grow. "What, really?" He hefted up his greatsword. "Let's go say hi."

The only thing between us and him were about maybe 20 soldiers. "Everyone! Give us some support! Attack right there!" I pointed over to the blob of soldiers between me and dad. Our sorcerers all nodded as they warmed up their spells.

…

[Erwin Dristole]

Well, I've been all around the countryside in the past three years I've been adventuring, and even though I've seen the warzone between Southern Shou and Illuska, a small border skirmish between the two forces that never escalates past a hundred soldiers in attrition battles over battle trenches, I've never seen a battle this intense before. And since I've seen plenty of Illuskan soldiers, I know which people are my enemy. The guys all dressed in blues and silvers are Illuskans. That would mean that the people dressed in the reds are…

"Damarans?" I glanced at the old man. "Here?" What were they doing this far south? And in military regalia? Damara and Illuska aren't at war. They're allies.

The old man smirked as he glanced at me. "Well, it might take a second but you'll notice I have brown eyes and I used to have dark brown hair. I'm Damaran." I guess I could see the brown underneath most of that gray. The old man shrugged. "I thought that was obvious. And these… I know these faces."

"Dad!" I heard someone scream. A girl was running up to us, waving at the old man.

I knew instantly that several warriors were getting ready to ambush her. "She's about to be attacked." I screamed, bringing up my new sword.

"No." The old man roared, throwing himself into the battle.

I charged for the first soldier, shooting him with a flame. He burst into flames, and while he was distracted, I charged for a second one. The Cat-folk was already pouncing on top of someone, stabbing them with her sword. The old man was picking up a soldier and throwing him into another soldier.

The girl, who I suspected wasn't a warrior, drew her dagger and flipped herself onto a soldier's neck. With a twist of her legs, she snapped his neck. She fell with him to the ground, rolling off his corpse and back onto her legs, stopping right in front of the old man.

She smiled as she rushed the old man, wrapping her arms around him. "Dad! Please, tell me that it's you."

The old man smirked. "It's been a few years, but I haven't forgotten you, Kara."

She squeezed him harder. "Yup… it's me, Kara."

Damaran soldiers were beginning to form up around us, forming a perimeter. The old man looked down at his daughter. "So, tell me. What is going on? Why are you with Kulegrav soldiers?"

She released him from her hug, stepping back. "Well… a lot's happened. I'll tell you when we have a chance. Right now, we need to escape."

As I looked around, I noticed more and more Illuskans were starting to come out of the barracks. The group of Damarans were slowly beginning to thin out. I watched as three or four were jumped. I don't really understand what's going on, but I don't like Damara any more than I like Illuska. As it seems, we have a common enemy right now. And I'd be stupid to dismiss that. But still, there are too many for us all to face and expect to walk away freely.

I sighed as I closed my eyes. I let the fire within me call out. I hope I still remember what my great-great-grand uncle taught me. I took in a deep breath and screamed out as loudly as I could in Dragonic. My voice was carried on the wind. I know my family lived somewhere in the neighboring mountains to the west of Farvaan, to the north of Turami, and I think west of our current location. I think I can see the mountains my ancestors lived on. I just hoped one of my family members heard me.

The old man looked over to me. "Are you a Shouen elf?"

I shook my head. "No, but I do speak to dragons."

And in the air, I could hear the reply. It was a whisper in the air. But still, someone from the family was on their way. And they knew I needed help.

"And we're about to have some backup." I said as I looked up to the sky. I could already see the incoming dragon. It was definitely a gold dragon, just like my ancestral family. This one looked pretty young though. He was only half the size of my great-great-grand uncle.

"You can summon dragons?" Kara screamed as she watched the incoming dragon.

The dragon came to a soaring stop up in the sky, and he looked down at me. _"You called for some backup, nephew?"_ His voice rung in the back of my mind, even as he growled at to me. His growls shook the ground; dirt kicked off the ground with every flap of his wings.

"That's…" The Cat-folk stood there wide-mouthed at the massive dragon. He was a pretty big dragon, easily the size of a young adult, just big enough for one person to ride. He had golden scales, dark yellow wings, and spines flowing off his back and neck. He glared down at me with red glowing eyes, fire smoldering in his mouth.

I nodded to the dragon, roaring up to him in Dragonic, "Welcome, honored forebear. I call upon your aid. My friends and I are in a fight with some Illuskans and we need your assistance."

The dragon looked at the battlefield, and then looked at me. "To whom am I delivering a welcome?"

"The Illuskans dressed in blue are our enemy! They deserve no quarter, for they have none to spare to the weak and helpless. The troops in red are allies, from the Great North." I roared up to the sky.

The dragon roared as he charged into the battle, spitting fire down upon the Illuskans. The Illuskans, who were shocked by the sudden appearance of a dragon, were quick to turn tail and run as soon as molten magma rained down on top of them. It was the turn this battle needed.

I looked over to the old man. "Well, I just did that." Yeah, and I'm lucky the universe allowed me to pull that off. So damn lucky. "So… are we done?" Gods, I hope so. I want nothing but to return to my search for my answers as to why my mother had to die. Someone in Illuska had to know about the virus that ravaged Farvaan and the person or organization that knew how to cure it.

The old man shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. We still have one more thing to worry about." He pointed to the round tower near the back of the fort, near our prison. "The owner of the fort is in that building. If he learns we escaped, he'll just send people after us. We need to take him out."

Well, if that's what it takes for me to have a normal life, I guess I don't have much of a choice. I sighed as I started heading for the tower. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's end this."

The old man looked to his daughter, grabbing her arm. "Kara, you and Ivor keep up the fight. If things get too hot, just forget about me and leave."

She looked like she was about to protest, but she held her tongue and nodded. "Ok, father."

The old man looked over at me and then to the Cat-folk. "Ok, you two. You don't have to join me."

I had a bad feeling that if I didn't go with him… he wouldn't be coming back. I looked over to the Cat-folk, nodding to her. "My name is Erwin Dristole."

She looked over at me, blinking her feline blues at me. "I'm… Kurohana Raksha'na." She stuck out her hand for a handshake. "Um… nice to meet you."

I took her hand in mine. "Nice to meet you, Kurohana." I looked to the old man. "And your name?"

"Ignor Mei." He replied.

I scoffed at the thought. "I'd rather not. So, what's your name?"

"Ignor Mei." He replied. "My name is Ignor Mei Kulenov." He stuck out his hand. When I reached for it, he reached past my hand, grasping my arm and squeezed it.

Kara crossed her arms, looking at me and Kurohana. "And I'm Kara. And that over there…" She pointed to the other, much prettier girl, "is my brother, Ivor." Her… brother? Um…

Ivor, who I swore is a girl, was screaming in a feral roar as she or he, charged through Illuskans, cleaving their heads off as the dragon roared overhead, melting a wave of Illuskans like it was nothing. Man, we were lucky everything was going so well. If it continues going this well, we should have no problems walking out of here.

I looked over at Kara, pointing to her 'brother'. "Is that really a boy?"

She glared at me, her cheeks burning red. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Ignor Mei smacked me on the back of my head. When I looked up at him, he wasn't seething. He was actually smiling, almost on the brink of laughing. "I could hardly tell the two apart when they were born." He could hardly tell them apart? Were they twins or something?

Kurohana's nose was twitching. "They do seem very similar, but they smell so different. Kara's definitely a girl, and Ivor is… well…" Her nose twitched. "really smelly. But he smells like perfume."

Kara'a face reddened even further. "Please don't ask why." She mumbled as she turned away from us. "Ok, I'm done here. Good luck, Dad. Come back safe." She glared at me and then at Kurohana. "Good luck." She mumbled forcefully as she drew her daggers and turned her attention back to the fight.

Ignor Mei looked back at me, smiling thickly. "I'm going to like you two. Now, no more stalling. Let's go kill a Paladin."

A Paladin? We're killing a Paladin?

My loins were quickly filling up with crap. "Um… you said a Paladin? Like a military leader?"

He nodded. "And not just a Paladin, but an Arch Paladin, one of five generals of this whole province." His face tensed up. "I don't expect this will be easy."

Oh, crap… we're going to die.

* * *

 **Cearbhail** :

Yeah... the whole summoning a dragon thing. I really shouldn't have let him do it, but I was like (well, i'll only do it if he rolls a 20). You can see what happened. And then when it showed up, (I'll only let it help them if he rolls about an 18. Another 20). Gods, these people. It doesn't become a trend though. This was before I drew a map of the region, and afterwards, all the woods and mountains were set. So, I told myself were dragons roost, where other things live. And so... most of Illuska is mapped (kind of). Still need to work on rivers and lakes and whatnots. But for the most part, everything is set. Next chapter, we see the end of the introduction session I planned for my party. (by the way, most of the time i'm playing as Kara, Ignor, Ivor, Raven, Megumin, Suu Sha, and Kuzu, as well as any other NPCs, but these named ones have their own character sheets drawn up on my laptop and are tagged as my personal NPCs, which is why they sometimes are not involved, if not only because I hate having to play so many at once).


	3. My First Boss Fight

**Cearbhail** :

So, we're continuing on.

 _Oh... and enjoy. =^^=_

* * *

[Kurohana]

An Arch Paladin? What is an Arch Paladin? Did I even hear that right? I don't know much about Illuska or… wherever we were. I just wanted to come up here and find out who killed my family and why. I'll just help these people out and then go back to my hunt.

Ignor Mei nodded his head towards the building near the back of the fort. "The Arch Paladin is inside that fort. If we go in there, we should be able to find and kill him."

Erwin sighed as he started taking the lead. "Ok, but… why do we have to kill him?"

"If we just let him live, you'll continue being wanted men. The commander here is not well-known for status updates, and since he's a warden of this prison fort, he's pretty much left alone. In fact, from what I've noticed, he's pretty much severed ties with the actual Illuskan army. I can't understand why though. So, think of this as me confirming a suspicion I have." Ignor Mei stated as he charged up to Erwin, catching up to him.

I was jogging behind the two of them. I had no idea what to say to contribute to this conversation, and to be honest… I'm pretty quiet. I've only ever known my family… and outsiders were never very welcome among my family. I will probably have to change that someday. It's not a bad thing to have friends, but where to get some? I'm sure that these two will probably do whatever needs to be done and then… they'll go their separate ways. And I'll go mine. Why bother trying to get to know either of them if we're not even going to ever see each other past this point?

I looked ahead, seeing a small wave of enemies forming up in front of the fort entrance. I brought my weapon up, ready for another fight. Ignor glanced at us, nodding. "Let me take this."

He pushed ahead, bringing up his sword. It started to glow with some bright light, and as he slashed, he screamed, "Improved Divine Smite!" His sword cleaved through the five soldiers like it was nothing, and as he did so, the bright light vanished from his sword. He was breathing heavily, wiping at his brow as he looked up at the sky. "Gods, it's been too long." His left arm started shaking, though it was barely a twitch. I could smell the stench of death on him. Not a good sign.

I looked at Erwin. I hoped he noticed it too. He didn't seem to notice it though. He was too busy heading towards the door. He slammed his foot on the door, busting it open. He walked into the room, and I followed right behind him. He had his sword aimed out and at the ready, but there weren't any troops waiting for us. There was just a little girl. I really little girl.

…

[Erwin Dristole]

I expected there to be a squad of knights. I expected to be stabbed the second I kicked the door down. I did not expect a small gnome girl to be standing there, holding a broom three times her size. She was dressed in classical servant robes, her feet shackled like any slave I've seen. She was just a little girl! Probably close to eight years old. And she was here! In the middle of a war! There was a dragon just outside the room melting Illuskan Templars. I couldn't just leave her here! I had to do something, anything.

I found myself taking a knee and extending a hand to the girl. "I'm here to free you. You want to be free, right?"

She looked up at me with her big amber eyes. She looked at my hand and slowly started walking towards me. I had no idea how we got here, but now that I was here, I knew that I had to protect this little girl. There was something about her, something I needed to protect.

The little girl took my hand, and looked up at me. She looked slightly worried about what would happen next. She was too young to be in a place like this. Whoever brought her here would pay for this. She's a gnome, and I haven't seen a single one since I've been here. Everyone I've seen so far are Calishitian and Illuskan humans, so it's not like she's someone's kid. I should make sure though, before I do something horribly stupid.

"Are you someone's kid? Do you have a parent here?"

The tiny girl shook her head. "No, she's dead. The man upstairs found her dead. He took me with him."

The man upstairs? Was it the Arch Paladin? Did he do this? This made me angry. He needed to die.

I turned around to look at Ignor Mei. When I turned to face him, he could see the anger in my eyes. He knew what I needed to do. And I think he understood what I understood. This fucker had to die. No one orphans a child.

I looked back down at the girl, nodding to her. "Don't worry, I'll set you free."

She started to look worried, exclaiming, "But! What will happen to me?"

Good question. I guess I have no choice. This was happening even if I didn't participate. Either way, she was going to be orphaned again. I should take responsibility here. "You'll come with me. That is… if you're ok with it?"

She started at me for a few seconds before giving me a hesitant nod. "Umm… sure."

Not the most enthusiastic response, but I'll take it. I guess I have a kid now. "Ok, just stay here for now. Once we're done with the man upstairs, we'll get ourselves some backpacks and head on out."

She nodded, this time a little less hesitant. "Ok, but… where are we going?"

Where are we going? I'm not even sure of that. I've been wandering for the past three years, going from town to town, just doing whatever I could to solve the mystery of why my village had a sudden virus attack, one that left us with hundreds dead. Farvaan elves don't get sick, not with destructive colds anyway. We live in nature, we interact with it. Our immune systems are highly developed, and so… when some of us started getting sick and dying from some unknown pathogen… it was unnatural. And within a week or two of the virus claiming a few of us, 20 or more in the infirmary ready to die, some representative from Illuska showed up at our borders, exclaiming that they had a cure for our pathogen. The scouts brought word of the representative, and our leaders went to the border to meet with him. For the knowledge of the cure, how to make it, the representative wanted full rights to our forest's natural resources: our rich soil, crystal mines, lush thick trees and herbs with restorative qualities. They wanted it for their war effort against Southern Shou.

The elven leaders though, they rejected the offer. No amount of elven lives was more important respecting nature. We can always make more elves, but we can't make a second world. We live in harmony with nature, and that means respecting that sometimes we have to make decisions that might hurt ourselves instead of the world we live on. The Council was more than ready to accept the rolling death count which threatened to rise within the coming months. The representative told us that it would only get worse, but hopefully we'd be able to pull through as they had a year or so ago. He left us with a map of where to find him if we ever needed to get in touch with him.

I never got to see the map, it was burned the minute the rep left. And we went on, watching more and more elves getting sick. It got to the point that eventually my mother caught the illness. It was a hard month of watching her grow ill. She did not go peacefully, it was not a quick or painless death. And when she died, I needed answers. I needed to know why this happened, why Illuska demanded such a hefty price for lives, and why we couldn't find a natural cure when we were surrounded with the strongest healing herbs and magicks in any nation.

That's why I've been wandering for the past three years. I've been looking for my answers. And all I've learned so far is that I hate Illuskan nobility; I hate the system of commerce that makes a small portion of the population overwhelmingly wealthy, while people live in literal piles of hay shit. I've learned a lot the past few years, and nothing about this was good. The sad thing is, this wasn't my first trip to a prison for this kind of behavior. And this wasn't my first time escaping either. This was my first time taking part in a battle this size though.

And now, looking down at the little girl holding my hand… what was I planning on doing with her? I surely can't take her with me on my quest. It would be highly irresponsible of me to bring a little girl with me on a mission of this size. Then again, it's not like I'm looking for trouble, I'm looking for answers. I swear there's a difference even though this nation seems highly corrupt and uncaring about the people within her borders.

I couldn't just leave her on her own though. She needs someone to watch over her. She's just a little girl!

I found my head spinning with moral quandaries as I tried to reason this out. Do I dare take this girl with me? Do I try to find a more reasonable adult to watch her? It's not like we're surrounded with adults just as capable as myself to watch over this little girl while I go galivanting across the countryside, fighting trolls, ogres, uncover hidden conspiracies that will lead to the literal destruction of our world, and other more fun exciting adventures that any tiny girl would get bored being forced to sit through in a six to nine hour campaign over a small board of wood with some marker drawings on it and sheets of paper that she can't even really read yet. And it's not like rolling dice is all that exciting for children either.

I found myself shaking the thought away as I looked down at the girl. Such an important decision that's mentally racking my head, and not something that I had already explained away because I wanted my daughter to play this game with me. I'm kidding of course, this is real life, not some board game! With real consequences!

"I don't know where we're going, but I swear I'll keep you safe." There, that's the best I can hope for, I guess.

She seemed to accept that, nodding her head. "Ok. I'm Lil-Gem." She pointed over to a caged dire wolf sitting in the corner of the room. "That's Snowflake. She's my friend."

Ok, so… she has a dire wolf companion. Do I really need to worry about her at all? She has a dire wolf as her companion. That's… impressive. I should definitely put that on the back burner of my questions to ask her after I get done saving all of our lives.

I looked around the room, and it was clear I was in some sort of armory. There were chests all throughout the room, racks filled with weapons: spears, swords, and bows. There were armor sets just set aside alongside a wall. This couldn't be all of it however. I wonder if this was the crisis room, where soldiers can grab something fast and head out into a battle. And since so many of them were out being killed by a dragon, I'm guessing this room is actually empty. And on the right side of the room was a staircase that headed up.

I looked back at the old Damaran. "So… I'm guessing the man we're looking for is up there?" I pointed to the staircase.

Ignor Mei nodded. "He should be. And if he's smart, he's prepared himself for battle. There is no way he'd be ignorant to the screams of war just outside his window, which is also open."

So, a battle-ready Arch Paladin was waiting for us just up the stairs. I don't know how strong Ignor Mei is, but I'm not strong enough to even pose a threat to an Arch Paladin. Kurohana seems like she might actually be weaker than me, and that's not good either.

What we needed was a way to get to him secretly. That's when a candle lit over my head. I looked down at Lil-Gem. She lives here; she even cleans it, as evident by the broom in her hands. She would know every nook and cranny. If there was a secret entrance, she would know it. And that would give us a critical edge against our enemy. A surprise assassination. Always works.

I smiled as I looked down at our possible savior. "So, Lil-Gem. Can you help us?" Her eyes perked up as she looked up at me. "We want to sneak up on the guy upstairs. Is there a secret way to reach his room without him knowing?"

She stood there for a second, as if she wasn't sure what I was asking. After a second or two of contemplation, she nodded. "Yeah. It's over here!"

She tugged at my arm, pulling me over to the sword rack. She pushed on a loose nail, and it snapped backwards. There was a light torch in the corner of the room that suddenly blew out. An illusion of a wall blinked away, revealing a secret spiral staircase.

Lil-Gem looked back at me. "If you're going to fight the bad man upstairs, I want to come." She ran away from me, reaching into a chest underneath the sword rack. She pulled out this crossbow that was almost as big as her. "This is my toy. I made it myself."

Aww, how cute. She made a toy crossbow. I wonder if it shoots rocks or something. But, even so, I shouldn't bring a child into a fight. I shouldn't make her see me kill the Arch Paladin upstairs. Or let her see me be killed by him.

Kurohana, this whole time, was just looking at the exchange happening between me and Lil-Gem. I wonder what was going on in her mind during this whole exchange. She seemed more interested in the fight going on outside. I glanced out the door to see the dragon on the ground, biting through an Illuskan soldier's shoulder plate, lifting him up, and thrashing him around before tossing him into three other Illuskans. Well, the fight out there should be ending rather quickly.

Wait… that brought up an idea. What if I asked the dragon to destroy the tower, and kill the Arch Paladin for me? Surely, it was a better idea than a novice adventurer like myself charging my way to the top of the tower and killing him myself. There is no way I'm prepared for an adversary this strong.

I looked over to Kurohana and then to Ignor Mei. "So, are we really going to do this?"

Ignor Mei placed his hand on my shoulder, nodding. "I understand if you think you're not ready for something this powerful. If you want, I can just go up myself. The three of you can wait down here."

Kurohana almost growled/sighed as she pushed past both of us. "We're wasting time."

There was no way I was going to let her go up there alone, so I followed right behind her. Ignor Mei and Lil-Gem followed behind me as the four of us headed up the spiral staircase.

…

[Kurohana]

I could hear the soft sounds of muttering up ahead. I could smell the cooked tart covered in strawberry paste. It made my mouth water, and I've been able to smell it ever since we opened up that secret entrance. I wanted to eat that tart, but I won't get the chance if the Aching Paladin eats it first. And I'm a trained rogue, I'm stealthy. I should be the first one to attack him. Maybe I can get him by surprise and save everyone else the effort.

"Dear diary, today has been an exciting day. Mumble, mumble…" I heard the mumbling of someone just on the other side of the staircase. He wasn't too far away now. I found myself lowering down as I went into my stealth mode. Just a little further ahead, I could even detect a slight breeze in my fur. It was still pretty dark though. You'd think there would be more light filling up this stairwell, but I guess not. I kept climbing the stairs, everyone else behind me.

"Whoa…" Erwin whispered from behind me. "Your blue markings glow in the dark."

"Only when I'm working magick or near magickal constructs like traps and stuff." I whispered back at him. "Now, shush. He's right up ahead." I'm guessing the magickal structure setting off my glowing sigils are the illusion doorways between the secret staircase. Once we exit the staircase, my sigils should return to their normal pastel blue hue.

After another round of swirling stairs, I could see a small hollowed-out image blocker. And what I mean by that is that there was an obvious doorway leading out to the room, but there was a translucent wall, made from the illusion spell, still making it appear as if the wall existed on the other side. I knew that a light source kept the doorway hidden, but blowing out the torch sitting nearby would reveal the doorway. I'm guessing the Arch Paladin knew about the entrance, but with the light of the torch making it invisible to prying eyes, he wouldn't know I'm standing right on the other side. I should be able to watch him, see if he's making any mistakes, and then go charge him.

Ok, Kurohana, it's just like all those times you snuck up on Master Ranik during your training years. All you have to do is go up, catch this baddy by surprise, and tickle him to death. Ok, not tickle, but you get the gist.

The target was standing in front of a mirror, looking at his own reflection. He was checking his face for any blemishes. I watched him as he stood there, checking himself out. He leaned closer to his mirror, sighing as he started pushing on a pimple on his face. "Jeez, if I knew black magic would do this to my face, I would have reconsidered becoming a Death Knight."

A Death Knight? I'm not sure what that is, but I'm sure we'll all be just fine. He's busy checking out his pale face in the mirror. And he's facing away from us. There's no way this can be bad for us.

I looked back at Erwin, nodding to him. Once we shared a slight nod, I charged into the room. I had a slight bit of adrenaline flowing through me as I jumped onto the roof, using my feline grace and claws to sprint across the ceiling. Erwin and Ignor charged through the portal, both of them drawing their swords. The tiny girl was crawling out with her crossbow.

As soon as I ran into the room, I knew there was something wrong. The Death Knight was looking in his mirror, right up at me. And then he looked at Erwin and Ignor. He didn't look threatened though. He just sighed, standing up from his mirror, and turned to face us.

"General Ignor Kulenov."

"Ignor Mei!" The old general reminded him.

The Death Knight chuckled. "As if I could allow myself to." He turned to face the old man, spreading his arms out. "I offered you the chance to help me in my quest. I offered to lead you back to Damara with my army. I offered you the world, General Kulenov. And now, it would seem you have your own army. If you had just escaped, I would have let you leave untouched, unchallenged. So, tell me, General Kulenov. Why did you come up here?"

During this time, I was still running across the roof, and I managed to get behind the Death Knight. I let myself fall to the ground, landing behind him while he was still talking to Ignor Mei.

Ignor Mei pushed his way past Erwin, who looked confused at this new development. "Do you really think I would support your decision, Spencer? You turned your back on Odin, you embraced that hag of a goddess. Do you think I would continue to support your cause if you embraced this darkness?"

I could see Erwin's eyes deflating. What was even going on right now? Were we killing this guy or not?

"You were a good man, Spencer." Ignor Mei screamed. "You saved me and my men when the Illuskan Paladins showed up. You helped me rebuild my army to retake Damara. And then… you changed. Did you think I wouldn't try to stop you?"

Spencer, the Death Knight with pale and slightly pealing skin, growled as he walked up to Ignor Mei. "You don't know what I had to go through! I was an Illuskan Paladin, myself. Do you know what it was like defying my god to protect you? I had to get my powers back somehow. I had to defy my entire nation to protect you! And this is the thanks I get? You kill all my faithful compatriots."

Ignor Mei scoffed. "They worship Hel, I'm sure they're not even trying to win the fight."

Spencer's face brightened as he stepped up to Ignor. "You are lucky I favor our old friendship, General, otherwise, I would take more offense at you disrespecting my soldiers as well as my honored mistress." He turned around, looking at me. He looked me over a couple times, looking back at Ignor Mei. "I give you one chance to leave. Take it, or…" He shrugs. He looks at Lil-Gem. "The girl stays here. She's important to me."

Erwin stepped in front of Lil-Gem, growling, "As if I'd let her stay with a Death Knight."

Spencer took in a deep breath. "Well then… I guess…"

He never got to finish his sentence. Ignor Mei ran a sword through his chest. I jumped back at seeing a sword manifest through the Death Knight's other side. It wasn't like he was wearing armor or anything. He was dressed in a nightgown, almost as if he was getting ready for bed.

Spencer looked down at the sword in his chest, and then looked up at Ignor Mei. "You thought this through, right? You know that I'm technically dead, right?"

Ignor Mei grit his teeth. "And so is my old friend. You're just a shell of his honor. He would never honor Hel. He would never suggest Ragnarok. He would never betray his One True God, even if He doesn't exist."

Spencer started laughing, pushing his way through Ignor's sword. "The One True God… not exist?" He laughed more as he reached for Spencer's arm. "And you think I've dishonored him by turning to Hel? You have no idea what's even going on, do you? It is true though… I suppose I have." He slapped Ignor's hand away from his sword, hard enough that Ignor was thrown across the room. The Death Knight clutched at the sword in his stomach, and began pulling it out, all while screaming bloody murder.

"Kill it!" Erwin screamed as he blasted a bolt of fire at the Death Knight. The Death Knight watched as the bolt of fire slammed into him, doing nothing as it exploded across his face.

"I'm immune to all magick." The Death Knight replied.

"Shit." Erwin replied, charging in and slashing with his sword.

I brought my own sword up, slashing at his backside. And together, the two of us started slashing at him, cutting him deeply.

The Death Knight sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I just wanted to go to bed. And yet… here I am, standing in my nightgown, not even wearing pants." He sighed again. "Oh well." He raised his hands, a dark energy collecting in them. "I should remind you who my goddess is, and what powers she gives to me."

Ignor replied by standing up and slamming his fist in Spencer's face. Erwin and I both took our turns slashing our weapons down on Spencer, which honestly, every time I hear his name, I tend to forget he's this powerful death god thingy. It's totally cutting the dramatic moment away from the fact that he's a Death Knight.

Erwin and I continued to slash at him, and every time he tried to bring up an attack of some sort, Ignor would interrupt him by bringing a slash down on top of him, screaming, "Divine Smite!"

All the while, the Death Knight continued to stand there, absorbing almost every blow. I'm not sure he even wanted to fight. After three rounds of combat, the Death Knight was barely able to stand up.

"Spencer." Ignor said as he looked down at the Death Knight. "After all these years, I cannot believe you would just stand there and let this happen."

The Death Knight pushed himself up, standing straight as he glared at Ignor. "I've been preparing my ultimate spell. And now…" His body started turning darker, the light in the room started to vanish as he seemed to pull all the light in. "I'm finally ready to destroy everyone!" His voice started to change, growing deeper. My fur started to rise as I tasted malevolence in the air. He was getting ready to do something. I couldn't just stand here and wait for him to do it.

I slashed with my weapon, and Erwin as well. Together, we managed to do enough that the Death Knight's aura of malevolence vanished.

"Crap… my concentration broke." The Death Knight sighed. "Oh well, my back up plan is nearly here."

"Back up plan?" Erwin asked.

"Um…" Lil-Gem called from the stairs. "I hear moaning, lots of it."

"No… no, no, no!" Ignor screamed as he walked over to the stairs. "Zombies! He summoned zombies."

"Draugr, actually." The Death Knight almost laughed. "Presents from Hel. Hope you enjoy them. Once you're all dead, I'll be sure to recruit you for the final battle of Ragnarok. I'm sure Hel will love you all to join her army."

Ignor screamed, throwing himself at the Death Knight, slashing deep into Spencer's throat. "If you like her so much… go to Hel, you bastard!" And with that, his sword started glowing again. He gave a swift slash and managed to sever Spencer's head from his shoulders.

Erwin looked down at the severed head, saying, "He's not going to come back, is he?"

Ignor shook his head. "Not from that, he's not." He looked to the staircase. "We have another issue. Those draugr. They're insanely strong, and there are probably hundreds of them. We'll be lucky to get out of this alive."

That's when I heard it, a small voice in the distance, amplified by a magical incantation. "From the burning depths of my heart, from the fire that rages inside my soul, I call upon my unbridled fury to rise from the ashes of my hopes and dreams, manifested into the desires and creeds upon which I stand! I call upon that magick that dwells within me, manifested in the only form that matters! EXPLOSION!"

I felt a horrible sense of foreboding as the light around us started to turn red.

Erwin looked up, almost cursing as he said, "Oh… shi…"

Then I felt everything around me explode.

* * *

 **Cearbhail** :

So, this ended the very first session we had. This was how I introduced the new players to the world of Dungeons and Dragons. By making them fight a Death Knight. And I know the Death Knight just kind of stood there and did nothing, but it's only because... I rolled extremely low, while they were hitting 18's and above for most of it. So, what was originally going to happen was that I was going to wreck them, introduce the fact that... there are impossible enemies and that they would have to be creative if they wanted to beat them. Both characters were magick users, and I wanted someone who was resistant to all forms of magick. Death Knights, according to the 5th edition are just that. And ex-paladins, so... story telling.

And I had Ignor Mei, who was supposed to die in the fight, saving their lives. He was going to sacrifice himself to kill stall the Death Knight so that they could escape. He's still alive, however, and now his name is no longer an introduction to an unnecessary character. And you'll see why next chapter. You see, I was outwitted by my own creations, a strong paladin mentor, and my inability to roll high enough numbers to cast the one fucking spell I wanted to use to crush them. I tried for four turns to use the spell, and it failed each time. I did manage to raise the dead though so... that gave way for the draugr to march up the stairs to kill them. A nice way to introduce them to Megumin... the Shou Dragonborn sorcerer who just rained hell down on top of them. So... there's that at least.


End file.
